Redhead in a Bar
by sophie.r.johnston
Summary: James and Lily meet in an off chance in a bar in South London during their school holidays. Short one-shot drabble for October.


One-shot special since it is October and that means Jily-madness.

The pub is hot and loud, bad music humming behind the hubbub of the crowd. Lily hadn't meant to come somewhere so full on, however after having dinner with Petunia and Vernon she found herself in desperate need of a drink – though she wasn't technically of drinking age in the muggle world, she found that a charmed license worked quite nicely. The meal had gone as expected, meaning that it was about as horrific as a three car pile-up.

She leaned forward, her elbows propped on the counter as she tried to flag down the bartender, but he heads for a group of tipsy and giggling women before her. A thick curtain of red hair blocks her view of the rest of the bar, as she lets her fingers drum on the counter, when all of a sudden she hears the voice she least expected to hear in a muggle bar in South London. No, it _couldn't_ be.

"Well, well, well. Lily Evans, what a surprise," James Potter's low voice drawls from behind her. When she turns around he is smirking (unsurprisingly), wearing jeans and a shirt, rolled up to the elbows. It's odd, she's never seen him in muggle clothes like this, and it took a second for her to adjust. As soon as she's acclimatised Lily makes sure her eyes are too wide, or that she looks too shocked, Potter always has liked to create a stir like that, and she was never partial to letting him see.

"James Potter, what are you doing here? Please tell me you didn't follow me because that won't be okay," Lily said, the same lightly sarcastic voice that she always used with him flowing from her lips – the same lips that seemed to have quirked up into a smile upon seeing him.

"Don't be ridiculous." He says automatically, but the glint in her eye makes her cock a brow, leaning back against the counter until finally he relents, nodding back at the crowd "I'm here with the guys. Remus' dad lives around here." He clarified, putting her at ease. "Let me buy you a drink." He says.

"I'm fine." Comes the automatic answer, leaving her lips before she can even think it through. Wasn't the whole reason she was here to have a drink?

James laughs, soft and low, like he anticipated that exact answer. "Come on, Evans. I've seen you trying to get that bartenders attention for ages. Plus, it's kind of meant to be. I mean, out of _all_ the pubs in _all_ of London, on _all_ the nights, we end up going to the same one? That's fate that is Evans." He reeled off, his tone teasing. "Serendipity. Now I _have _to get you a drink and you _have_ to come sit with us. Besides, drinking alone is far too sad for such a pretty girl." He concluded, the bartender coming over just as he finished.

James ordered a beer for himself, before glancing over at her, waiting expectantly. Finally Lily sighed, rolling her eyes "Rum and coke. And don't call me pretty either." She told him, his triumphant grin making her just roll her eyes again. Once their orders came James lead her back to where the other three were sitting, all of them pretending not to watch as Lily came over.

"Hey," She said, a little awkwardly. She'd always got on quite well with Remus, and although her relationship with James was a little highly strung they still enjoyed each other's company, however she knew little of Sirius and Peter – despite the fact they were all in the same house. Lily wasn't sure if Sirius liked her all that much and Peter was just so quiet he barely looked at her. "James told me to come over, but if I'm infringing on your night out then jus-" She started to say before Remus cut her off, pulling her down to sit next to him.

"Shut up Lily," He said plainly "We wanted you to come over. Especially in this pub. Not the usual place I'd picture you frequenting."

She shrugged at that, taking a sip of her drink (which was stronger than she was used to) "It was out of necessity. I just finished having dinner with my sister." Lily said, aware that Remus knew about her sister's feelings towards magic.

"So you weren't trying to find a hot stud to have your way with then?" Sirius piped up. He was leaning back in the booth, on arm resting on the top behind him so he looked completely at ease. "Damn, I was betting on that." He said cheekily, and Lily had the feeling he was testing her somehow.

"Oh yeah, I was definitely doing that. And look at me now, I've found four," Lily replied, her face dead straight as she spoke. A beat passed before Sirius laughed, some of the awkwardness at the table dissipating. She glanced back at James, blushing slightly at his expression.

"So you think I'm a stud, huh?" He asked lowly, though Lily pretended to ignore that, as she launched into conversation with the others.

They talked placidly at first, discussing things like schoolwork, and their holidays, and who they had or hadn't seen yet this summer. Everybody was making a concerted effort to avoid broaching the increasing disappearances, or the terror that ran through them all as they read the headlines in the Daily Prophet. Though as they started to drink more and more (Lily refused to let James buy all of her drinks, going up and paying for a round just like everyone else), she found herself laughing more loudly, talking more openly and just… having fun. Which hadn't been happening a lot recently – it certainly seemed to help when James grinned at her, or when James made a special comment just to her… even more so when his fingers 'accidentally' brushed her back as he stretched his arm behind her.

It was almost one am before Remus decided he better get Peter and Sirius back to his house before they passed out under the table – Lily also recognised that she should _probably_ get home soon. "Well… Thanks guys. I had a lot of fun." She said, getting up (a little shakily) to leave when two long, thin fingers wrapped around her wrist, pulling her to a stop.

"Hold on." James said, getting up behind her, grabbing his jacket from the table "I'll take you home."

She tried not to be ungrateful in her refusal "No, seriously, it's fine. The apparition point isn't far." Lily protested but James wasn't hearing it.

"Lily. Just shut up." He said with an eye roll and she suddenly realised how nice her name sounded went it came from his lips. So, so much nicer than just Evans. _Crap, maybe she had had too much to drink. _"You coming?" He asked, turning back to her, as she stood, staring dumbly back at him.

"Oh. Yeah. Yeah, I'm coming now," Lily said, quickly saying goodbye to Remus and the others (though she doubted that they'd remember it) before following James out into the road. It was much colder now, the chill of the waning August at night making her shiver slightly in her very demure, very Petunia-like tea dress – but Lily always had preferred the weather a bit cooler.

They walked in silence for a while, only the clacking of their feet against the pavement filling the air. Lily glanced up, unable to see stars through the city light, but she could make out the moon, bright behind a thin cloud. "Sky looks nice," She mumbled stupidly, before James followed her gaze up, nodding slightly.

"I prefer it in smaller towns though. I'm not much of a fan of the city." He told her, though Lily would have guessed as much. He always seemed like the type to need lots of open space.

"I… Thanks for inviting me to come sit with you all tonight, by the way." She finally forced out, wanting to thank him. "If you hadn't I probably never would have got served and my night would have been considerably more glum." Lily said.

"I guessed." James told her "I mean… I've heard from Marlene and stuff. I know your sister's not your number one fan. Merlin knows what's wrong with her." He added under his breath, making Lily look down at her feet as she smiled.

"Well… Yeah. I just… Thanks." Lily said with a shrug, both of them halting once they reached the comfortably dark and secluded point for wizards to apparate without being seen. "This is me then," She said, pausing before scuffing her feet on the cobblestone.

"Yeah." James said quietly, looking straight at her unabashedly. "Yeah, it is." He repeated, just speaking to draw out his time with her. "Do… We could do this again, if you want?" James offered after a pause, his words spoken quickly, garbled as he tried to get them out before psyching himself out of it.

"What? Go out for a drink?" Lily asked, to which he nodded. She knew that typically she would have said no but… this wasn't typical. In fact, Lily had had fun tonight, and most of that was because of James Potter "Y- Yeah. Yeah, maybe." She said, giving him a quick smile.

Her small quirk of her lips encouraged a large grin from James, growing so wide his glasses shifted slightly and his dimples showed. "Alright. Okay, good. So… again sometime then." He nodded, like he was confirming it just for himself.

Lily smiled again, before acting on impulse and leaning up, her lips brushing over his slightly stubbly cheek as she kissed the skin there, so close to his lips "Night James." She whispered as she pulled back "I had fun," She told him, before quickly apparating home, her face burning red as she left behind a bewildered James Potter, his hand touching the patch of tingling skin where _Lily Evans had kissed him._

They met again the next night, and the next, and the next until eventually Lily moved her lips to brush against his.


End file.
